Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you speak naturally to perform actions such as creating or editing documents, using e-mail, finding online maps, news, images, and more. By reducing keyboard and mouse usage, you can gain productivity and avoid physical strain (on wrists, shoulders, neck, eyes...) "Speaking to" your computer may feel strange at first, but it's easy to accustom thanks to unique comfort of this device. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is speaker-dependent software. It relies on information specific to you, including what words and phrases you use often, how you sound, what audio device you use, and what software settings you have.

Key Points

Web experience

Enhancing accuracy

Compatibility alerts

DragonBar

Learning center

Interactive tutorial enhancements

Simplified audio setup

Open-ended custom commands

Product Features

Web experienceThe Dragon Web extension now gives Full Text Control in most browsers and websites.

Enhancing accuracyIn addition to higher out-of-the-box accuracy, Dragon 13 introduces enhancements to what you can do to increase your accuracy: The Learn From Sent Email tool now also works with Web-based email such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail, so you have more potential sources from which to let Dragon familiarize itself with the words and phrases you might write. The Vocabulary Editor now has a Search field and lets you search on more than just written forms. Also, it makes it easy to add a custom Dictation Command.

Compatibility alertsIf its add-in for a supported application becomes disabled, Dragon now displays a warning.

DragonBarDragon now includes a redesigned DragonBar that can be dragged to a different location as well as expanded or collapsed by clicking on its left edge. To take up less space on your screen, it automatically collapses when you're not using it. You can use its DragonBar menu to turn off the auto-collapse, if you wish, or to exit Dragon.

Learning centerThe Learning Center is the name of the Help menu item previously called the Dragon Sidebar. In Dragon 13, it has been redesigned and enhanced. It now contains panels you can open or close by clicking on their heading; the top panel, open by default, contains essential commands and advice.

Interactive tutorial enhancementsThe Interactive Tutorial has been redesigned and augmented. Its short, progressive simulations now also introduce the DragonBar, the Learning Center, the Vocabulary Editor, and important options, as well as basic Web navigation and use of Web-based email. It is automatically presented at the end of the profile upgrade process as well as after a new profile is created.

Simplified audio setupDragon now detects audio devices better. In most cases, when Dragon presents the list of detected devices, you can just pick the device it shows as recommended and continue. In addition, the Microphone Check is now just one screen and its text is easier to read.

Open-ended custom commandsIn the Professional edition, Dragon offers new flexibility for custom command types that support variable names: the ability to end the command's name with any word or phrase in the vocabulary, as opposed to a word or phrase from a defined list of command variables.